Daiwa Securities Group Inc. / Consolidating Key Issues of Daiwa Securities Group

To realize a sustainable society, the Daiwa Securities Group seeks to initiate even more effective CSR* activities.

* CSR: Corporate Social Responsibility

Daiwa Securities Group CSR

As employees of the Daiwa Securities Group, we carry out our duties with pride while feeling a significant sense of responsibility to society. And while enjoying an excellent quality of life, each employee is committed to doing the absolute best job possible.
Last year also marked the birth of new family members among many of our employees. We are giving serious consideration to what we can achieve through our financial capabilities and what actions need to be taken to develop industry in harmony with the environment. In addition, we are providing a higher quality of life for the next generation in Japan and the world, including the babies that grace the cover page of this report.

Key Issues:

Leverage Financial Capabilities to Contribute to a Sustainable Society
Develop Sound Financial and Capital Markets for the Next Generation

Based on the requests we have received from stakeholders thus far, the Daiwa Securities Group established a set of key issues in 2007. The implementation of these issues was given the utmost priority.

This time, the Group has reaffirmed the CSR initiatives that need to be realized and has undertaken a revision of its key issues with the aim of implementing CSR activities that are even more effective.

To that end, we have integrated the existing four key issues—(1) Adding a Social Perspective to Investment, (2) Commitment to the Development of a Sound Securities Market, (3) Contribution to the Global Environment and (4) Providing Information for a Sustainable Society—into the two key issues listed above.

Our Contribution

Modern society is faced with a multitude of problems that threaten the sustainability of the planet and communities worldwide, including environmental issues such as climate change as well as the widening gulf between rich and poor.

The Daiwa Securities Group promotes the flow of capital to solve social problems and to realize a sustainable society through financial and capital markets in such areas as the development and sales of financial products that add a social perspective to investment.
Products such as vaccine bonds and World CO2L bonds developed through these efforts are not only attractive as investment products but are also appealing because they open up an avenue for investors to indirectly participate in finding solutions to problems related to the global environment and society.
In addition to these achievements, the Group actively provides financial assistance to companies that have social value in areas including environmental technology and offers investment information regarding these companies.

"The vaccine bonds project was a valuable experience as it gave me the opportunity through my work to contribute to saving the lives of children in developing countries. At the same time, it is critical that a system facilitating cooperation within the Group be in place in order to make this type of global project a success. Although I had to work very hard to issue these bonds, I was able to meet a number of people through the process and gained new insights. To me, vaccine bonds are a financial product that reveals the Group’s strong willingness to meet the challenges associated with undertaking new projects that have a social perspective."

DCM Section
Capital Markets Department
Daiwa Securities SMBC Co. Ltd.
Kazuma Muroi
Joining the company in 2005, Mr. Muroi currently engages in the underwriting of nonresident bonds, having worked in the Planning Department of the Investment Banking Business and other sections.
During the vaccine bond project, he was in charge of making recommendations to and coordinating with the World Bank, which was acting as a financial manager.

Mr. Muroi at 10 months old

Approaches to Key Issues >> 1. Leverage Financial Capabilities to Contribute to a Sustainable Society

Our Mission

In order to promote the move from savings to investment and provide an abundant supply of funds vital for sustainable social growth, we believe that the development of sound and vigorous financial and capital markets is essential.

For the Daiwa Securities Group, compliance is not limited simply to observing the law but extends to actions that preserve the trust of customers and society. Maintaining the highest ethical standards, all executives and employees take it upon themselves to identify and make improvements regarding operational risks and problems as they carry out their daily duties. In addition, the Group undertakes thorough measures to reinforce its system for monitoring unfair transactions and to eliminate antisocial forces in order to establish trustworthy financial and capital markets that are transparent and fair.
Taking advantage of the experience and knowledge developed through its core business, the Daiwa Securities Group focuses on economic and financial education for youth and the dissemination of information to society. By doing so, the Group will develop sound financial and capital markets for the next generation.

"Having been employed at Daiwa Securities for over ten years, I have worked earnestly to build relationships of trust with customers at the Kunitachi Branch. In order to foster long-term customer relations, it is important to establish routine communication. For example, I believe that through various small things such as contacting customers regarding paperwork and procedures, they gain a greater sense of trust and feel more at ease. Rather than being something extraordinary, I think compliance revolves around the more fundamental and straightforward idea of always thoroughly carrying out one’s duties in full consideration of the customer."

Senior Assistant Manager
No. 2 Asset Consultant Department
Kunitachi Branch
Amika Omi
Ms. Omi joined Daiwa Securities Co. Ltd. in 1999 in a clerical position at the Kunitachi Branch and then switched to a regular position with prospects for promotion in 2001. Ms. Omi has received numerous awards in recognition of her many exceptional achievements as an account executive.

Ms. Omi at six months old

Approaches to Key Issues >> 2. Develop Sound Financial and Capital Markets for the Next Generation

Our Initiative

Human resources are at the core of the Daiwa Securities Group’s efforts to implement its CSR key issues.
To keep executives and employees highly motivated to contribute to the Group and society, it is imperative to have a rewarding workplace. There is a direct link between the high level of satisfaction of executives and employees and that of customers and shareholders.
To get staff to carry out their duties with a high level of motivation and to take on challenges in the workplace, we believe that it is important to generate greater vitality for work and enhance work efficiency by striking a balance between work and private life.
Regardless of gender or age, we will take active steps to promote a work-life balance with the aim of becoming the “the number one company in terms of working conditions.”

"At first, everyone considered work-life balance as an issue related to women in the workplace. As I worked to promote this idea, there was a gradual change in people’s attitudes towards long working hours, which had long been considered a virtue. With the understanding of customers, we established the policy of leaving work before 7:00 p.m., which gradually made everyone aware that they have control over their own time. In addition, an increasing number of men are taking childcare leave. With the aim of becoming the number one company in terms of working conditions for all executives and employees, we will continue to take steps to establish effective systems."

Manager
Work-life Balance Promotion Department
Daiwa Securities Group Inc.　
Risa Murase
Joining Daiwa Securities Co. Ltd. in 2001, Ms. Murase worked in sales and the Sales Planning Section at the Shibuya Branch. She currently works as a manager in the Work-life Balance Promotion Department, which was established in April 2008, at Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Ms. Murase at one year old

Aiming to Realize a Work-life Balance

For any company that aims for sustainable growth, the attainment of a work-life balance as well as the retention of exceptional people is indispensable. To that end, the Daiwa Securities Group has strengthened its initiatives to achieve a work-life balance for executives and employees under executive management leadership.
In April 2008, the Group established the Work-life Balance Promotion Department within Daiwa Securities Group Inc. and holds the Work-life Balance Promotion Committee meeting on a regular basis under the leadership of President and CEO Shigeharu Suzuki, who functions as the chief work-life balance officer (CWO). From that same month onward, the Group began participating in a work-life balance project promoted by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare as a model company.

Paid Leave Usage Rate (Daiwa Securities Group Inc., Daiwa Securities Co. Ltd., Daiwa Securities SMBC Co. Ltd.)

FY	2006	2007	2008
Paid leave usage rate	35.6%	37.4%	57.0%

Policies for Promoting Work-life Balance

We have initiated a variety of measures to achieve a work-life balance for executives and employees.
A significant transformation of work practices in all offices and branches of Daiwa Securities Co. Ltd. resulted from asking employees to leave the office before 7:00 p.m., a directive which began in earnest in July 2007. Not only do many executives and employees now have more time to spend with their families and to pursue their own interests, but also the work efficiency of the entire organization has increased. As a result, this policy directive has been expanded to the other Group companies. Moreover, since 2008, policies to encourage executives and employees to take paid leave have been expanded with the aim of creating a work environment where it is easy to take time off.
Beyond these measures, the childcare leave system has been revised to make it easier for male executives and employees to take time off to care for their children. This approach garnered Daiwa Securities Group Inc. the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s family-friendly employer certification in June 2008 as a company that actively supports the development of the next generation. This certification has been obtained by Daiwa Securities Co. Ltd., Daiwa Securities SMBC Co. Ltd., Daiwa Institute of Research Holdings Ltd., Daiwa Institute of Research Ltd., Daiwa Institute of Research Business Innovation Ltd. and Daiwa Securities Business Center Co., Ltd. Beyond this, in December 2007, the Group began providing a two million yen cash benefit for an employees’ third child or subsequent children to offset the financial burden of child-rearing.

Employee Welfare System Usage(Nine Principal Group Companies)	(persons)

FY		2006	2007	2008
Number of employees taking childcare leave	Female	150	209	245
Number of employees taking childcare leave	Male	2	4	14

*	Employees eligible for childcare leave include non-regular employees (contract workers, part-timers, etc.).

A Supportive Work Environment for Both Men and Women

Since establishing the Women’s Support Action Team in 2005, the Daiwa Securities Group has been expanding measures to support activities undertaken by female employees. As of April 2009, of Daiwa Securities Co. Ltd.’s 117 branches, eight are headed by women. In addition, four new female executive officers were appointed in the same month, invigorating the entire organization.
Daiwa Securities Group Inc. ranked 7th overall (and 1st in the finance industry) among the Best 100 Companies for Women to Work At in the May 2008 issue of Nikkei Woman Magazine and ranked No. 1 in the Providing Opportunities for Women in the Workplace category. In the survey of Companies with Best Working Conditions, featured in the September 2008 issue of the Nihon Keizai Shimbun and Nihon Keizai Sangyo Shimbun, the Company placed 14th overall and 1st in the securities industry. Furthermore, in the 2009 Career Search Survey ranking of financial institutions conducted by the weekly magazine, Diamond, Daiwa Securities Inc. placed 4th among men and 6th among women, while coming in 5th in a similar survey undertaken by Nihon Keizai Shimbun, and placing 1st in the securities industry.
Through the Daiwa Securities Group’s work-life balance policy, continual efforts are being made to maintain a comfortable workplace environment for men and women.

Daiwa Securities Group’s Female Employee Ratio in Japan

	March 31, 2007	March 31, 2008	March 31, 2009
Ratio of female employees to all employees	33.3%	36.0%	36.8%

Communication with Families of Executives and Employees

Families visit Daiwa Securities offices

It is not only executives and employees themselves, but also their families that have a significant interest in the workplace of their spouses, parents and/or children.
Considering the families of executives and employees as important stakeholders, the Daiwa Securities Group has held large-scale events in which they can participate and has invited families of award recipients to the President’s Awards Ceremony. On top of this, families of employees and executives were invited to visit workplaces at all Group departments and branches for the first time in August 2008. This turned into a major event with approximately 4,400 people participating throughout the Group.

Social Report >> Respect for People and Human Resource Utilization